(April 17, 2010 at 10:06 pm)padraic Wrote:Of course, we cannot know what a person is thinking. I was going on the evidence of the words presented, and we can clearly conclude that it is anti Christ. We can do that for any act too... judge if it's Christian or not. The label is meaningless... at any point in time a Christian is just like anyone else... with the choice to do good or bad.Quote:Yeah... when the no true christian is actually not Christian... you have to draw the dumb line somewhere.
Nonsense.It is impossible to tell a person's beliefs only from their actions.
Hitler did no more than vast numbers numbers of Christians as individuals and the Church as a matter of policy,over centuries. It's a matter of degree. That the church did not murder millions more was not through moral compunction,but pragmatism. I have no doubt even today large numbers of 'real 'Christians would happily murder a whole range of opponents if they could.
(April 17, 2010 at 10:06 pm)padraic Wrote: So what? I consider the argument irrelevant. Religions are invented by humans to meet a range of human needs. They reflect the societies which invent them. Religion does not make bad people good people, nor good people bad people. The contradictions within most religions force the individual to cherry pick the emphasis of his personal beliefs. This is almost invariably followed by a life long exercise in doublethink,whereby the believer is able to deny any such contradictions exist.Religion does not make bad people good, but it's aim is just that. An intelligent study of it is not contradictory, but clear. There are grey areas... but you have the background in which to make an informed decision.
Sure : Religions are invented by humans to meet human needs.
(April 17, 2010 at 10:06 pm)padraic Wrote: Religion does not make stupid,gullible, ignorant people smart or wise. Such people use their religion to assuage their terrors, sometimes doing evil things through the manipulation of evil people. Intelligent and pragmatic believers use their beliefs to justify their self interested behaviour.Both are prejudiced points of view, and I don't deny that happens. That isn't the purpose or result intended or in the main practiced though.
(April 17, 2010 at 10:06 pm)padraic Wrote: EG Religious terrorism is ALWAYS a political act accomplished by manipulating the gormless. At the other end there are the scary happy clappy churches which justify bourgeois greed with their fatuous prosperity. theology. Unsurprisingly,the most prosperous in those enterprises tend to be their ministers and administrators.Yep. Religion is a beautiful and delicate thing. To redress the smart dumb balance : it gets sorely abused.
